


Magic and Madness

by Church_the_very_much_immortal_cat



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Félix is Adrien's older brother, Gabriel was an okay parent before Emilie died or whatever happened to her, Janet's a fairly decent mom, Marinette is Marie Drake, Other, acknowledged it, and then dumped it in a lake, dc canon has majorly the same events but everyone's reasons for stuff are different, except events that i think are stupid, i saw canon, or atleast ml canon, she and tim are twins, she tries atleast, those can die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29044452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Church_the_very_much_immortal_cat/pseuds/Church_the_very_much_immortal_cat
Summary: Tim and Marie Drake are twins. She's kidnapped by the league of assassins and this follows her story after that.
Relationships: Felix Agreste & Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Felix Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Félix Agreste & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Félix Agreste & Tim Drake, Janet Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Janet Drake & Tim Drake, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Talia al Ghul, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 28
Kudos: 122





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> partially based of this post on tumblr: https://soulmate-game.tumblr.com/post/640274555359854592/i-want-a-sibling-or-just-platonic-daminette-fic

On July 19th Timothy Jackson Drake and Marie Janet Drake were born, or as they were to each other tim-tam and mars bar. The names were admittedly given as the other thought that was a horrible nickname though they did eventually grow fond of their nicknames. Their existence was basically co-dependent.

They were attached to each other at the hip. Where one went the other followed. They had separate rooms with a connecting door in between but as far as they were concerned there was still a wall separating them. More often than not they both fell asleep together while talking in one of their rooms rather than go to bed in their separate rooms.

They were raised partially by nannies. Their parents left on their first long trip soon after the twins turned one. They were the smartest children their age. They absorbed information like sponges, being left alone for nearly a year all alone in a manor with no one but nannies, who couldn’t care less about what they did to entertain themselves, would do that you.

By the time they were two they each knew more than 2 languages excluding English, they also excelled at all the subjects their mother had hired tutors for. They were taught both the curriculum that was taught in school and the etiquette and rules of the high society they were born into.

They were not disillusioned about their parents. Even at the age of two they were able to tell that their parents did not love each other, the screaming and fighting on the rare occasion they were home proved that. However, they held on to the belief that maybe their parents loved them in their own manner, after all they didn’t need to love each other to love their children. Their mother told them that she loved them on various occasions, surely, she wouldn’t say that if she didn’t mean it, it’s just that her priorities were different. Their father on the other hand only seemed to have the minimal amount of affection reserved for Tim and Tim only. He seemed determined to ignore Marie’s existence.

Their parents had come home for their third birthday, when Marie finally found out why her father never acknowledged her. The day had started out fairly normal, in fact for a day in Drake Manor it was very much mundane. Jack had wished Tim when he walked in that morning, ignoring Marie as usual, Janet wishing the two had proceeded to talk about the gala she had insisted to throw for their birthday. This was their first gala and they had been forced to spend extra time with their tutors to learn to how to perfectly behave during the gala. Being three years old had its advantages when it came to galas. They weren’t really expected to hold long conversations with prospective business partners. They were mostly just paraded around. Jack Drake did a good deal of boasting about his son and how he was such a suitable heir to their business, to anyone who really knew Janet Drake noticed the way she bristled at his blatant ignorance of Marie.

Marie and Tim having long since learnt how to make out their mother’s moods irrespective of their minimal interaction with her were worried at having done something wrong. However, no one who might have noticed mentioned it. As the guests were leaving Marie had softly asked her mother,”did me or Tim-tam do something wrong? I’m sincerely sorry if we did.” Janet turned to look at her, shocked that her three year old daughter had picked up on her annoyance with her husband, and responded casually with the smallest smile possible, which coming from Janet Drake was more along the lines of reassuring, “No, you were both perfect little angels tonight.”

Once the guests had left Janet told the twins to go to bed and that she wanted to speak to their father. If she had perhaps spent more time with them, she would’ve realised they had absolutely no intention of listening to her. While they knew that it would probably end up in another shouting match, it was always helpful to know why they were angry at each other so they don’t end up accidently getting their parents angry at them. 

After Janet ensured the twins were in bed, not that it did any good considering they snuck out the second they were sure she wouldn’t be able to hear or see them, she returned downstairs to speak to Jack. He was sitting in one of the smaller sitting rooms with a glass in his hand.

Marie and Tim waited precisely five minutes after they were sure their mother wouldn’t be able to know they had snuck out of their rooms. Things had however escalated extremely fast in the 5 minutes since their mother had started to talk to their father. They were at the top of the stairs when the screaming started, though the words were not discernible. Tip toeing further down the stairs they caught what was the tail-end of their parents.

Their father suddenly screamed, “What on earth do you expect me to do?”

To which their mother, every inch the woman who scared the living daylights out of grown men, coldly replied, “acknowledge your daughter.” Tim sharply turned to look back at his sister to try and gauge her reaction but her face looked blank of any emotion, something he knew she did when she was shocked.

“And why on earth would I have to that? She’s a girl, it’s not like she’s going to head the company in the future.”

Tim then grabbed Marie by her hand and dragged her back to her room as quietly as possible. Shutting the door quickly and silently he dragged her to her bed. She didn’t say a single word the whole time. “Good night Marie, sweet dreams,” said Tim climbing into bed next to his sister and hugged her. Marie, meanwhile was plotting on how to prove her father wrong, it’s not like he was CEO material either, she however was the daughter of Janet Drake and her mother’s competence to run a company was one both her and her brother inherited. Little did she know her mother was planning something similar too.

No child is born with a hatred for their father, it is a very much developed trait. One that only genuinely horrible acts could result in.

This newfound hatred for her father resulted in a change in her behaviour towards her father, one that made her a practically mini-Janet Drake except with black hair instead of blonde. Tim was the only one who was technically told of her plan, her mother might’ve figured it out but no one had explicitly told her anything.

Jack Drake had bought tickets to Haly’s Circus as a gift for their birthday, Marie had however refused to go when the idea was initially proposed as she wasn’t a fan of bright loud spaces. Janet had quickly agreed to let Marie stay home as she was worried the circus would be too scary for the two of them. Tim, with his never-ending curiosity had been exceedingly pleased with the idea. And, so it was decided that Jack, Janet and Tim would go to the circus while Marie stayed at home with her nanny.

They were supposed to go soon after their birthday and with everything that had happened Marie was extremely glad that she had refused to go initially.

They had returned from the circus earlier than expected with a haunted look. Their parents told Tim to go to bed and asked the nanny to leave. Tim had listened and Marie had followed him. She was still unaware of what happened at the circus but seeing as nobody seemed willing to tell her she went to sleep too. A few hours later she was woken by the connecting door between her and Tim’s room opening, he padded along the carpeted floor and climbed into her bed.

“Nightmare?”

Tim nodded, “the circus didn’t really go how I was expecting it to.”

“Oh?” she prompted

Tim sighed then proceeded to explain the events of the circus. Marie was absolutely horrified but she also noticed the curious glint in Tim’s eyes as he spoke about Batman. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘this is going to be the beginning of an obsession.’

Their parents were meant to leave the next morning. Before she left Janet spoke to Marie and Tim, ”I’ll be visiting for a week every month hereafter to ensure that everything is running smoothly in Drake industries. The _two_ of you will accompany me on my visits to learn how the company functions and everything you will need to know to lead it one day. You’re essentially a prince and a princess, and the two of you are the heirs to the kingdom which you must learn to rule. That is what I shall teach you to do. I expect the both of you will keep up with your lessons and make me proud, and remember that I love you.”

Both Marie and Tim realised what her plan was, they were after all exceptionally smart. Proving their Father wrong about Marie’s worth by making sure she’d be able to run the company better than their Father ever could would be satisfying. Her words also gave them hope that Janet Drake held some love in her cold heart for her children. And her actions when she returned to Gotham in a month, keeping her word, solidified that hope into a belief.

So once every month for a week, Tim and Marie followed their mother to Drake Industries and started to learn how to be formidable people in the business world at the age of 3. Marie turning into an intimidating tiny replica of her mother with the few obvious physical differences. While Tim was perfectly charming as long as you were still in his good graces and then he was just as vicious as his sister and mother.

When they were around 5 years old their parents brought them along to the Wayne Gala. There were famous people from all around the world present (as expected). Unlike the last gala they had attended where they were just treated like shiny toys, this time they had to talk to all the other guests attending the gala. They stayed next to their mother talked at all the right. This was the first time Marie met the Agrestes. Technically, it was just Gabriel Agreste and his first son Félix Agreste. The cold fronts that Marie and Félix both put on was what made them start a conversation, Tim deciding he was not going to be a part of whatever weird conversation the two of them were having in their attempt to understand the other, only pitched in occasionally. And somehow Marie and Félix became the closest thing to friends either of them ever had, being isolated with the only company in the form of your siblings doesn’t really provide much of a scope for making friends. Naturally they weren’t really normal friends with a whole ocean separating the two, but they kept in contact and met at galas and whenever the Agrestes came to Gotham for anything, which at Felix’s insistence happened very often. And somewhere along the line Emilie and Gabriel started to think of her as a daughter and Mr. and Mrs.Agreste became a sort of honorary uncle and aunt.

At any Gala Marie was always accompanied by the two. Her brother and friend, Adrien, Félix’s younger brother by two years and who was a year younger than the Drake twins, joined them on the rare occasion he drifted away from his mother’s side.

And so life had continued. The twins went with their mother to Drake industries every month. Marie and Félix spoke to each other once a week. Tim and Marie remained inseparable. And Tim’s vigilante obsession remained.

Around the age of nine, Marie took an interest in fashion and Tim in photography. Félix found out about it and got his father to help Marie. Tim used an old camera they had found while exploring to take photos of anything he found interesting in and around the manor, a considerable portion of the photos were of Marie. Janet who found out about this during one of her monthly visits proceeded to buy Tim a camera and Marie lots of books on designing for their birthday.

Both Jack and Janet had returned to Gotham for the twins’ ninth birthday, given that it was a rare occasion that the two of them were there a gala was held.

Ra’s al Ghul having come to Gotham to stir up some trouble for the one and only Batman, realized there was a human being with the soul of a true holder of the Ladybug Miraculous in this gloomy city. The Order of Guardians had long since destroyed any connection with the league, even before their temple was destroyed. However, Ra’s was no fool he had been informed that the box holding the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculi had been saved. To have the power of the Miraculi would make him stronger and a true holder would be destined to wield the miraculous in their lifetime. All he had to do was ensure he could control this holder.

Figuring out who the holder was ridiculously simple, it being a child changed his plans slightly. The only problem would be that the girl’s neighbour was Bruce Wayne. Getting a bunch of ninjas to Gotham had been easy, kidnapping the girl was easier. The gala her parents had held for her and her brother’s birthday didn’t really have the level of security that could stop the League of Assassins.

Only on his way back to the league base did he actually begin to plan on what to do now that he had the child that was destined to hold the Ladybug Miraculous. He needed her alive, letting her die because a trainer saw fit to kill her and reviving her with the pits might affect a guardian’s decision to give her the Miraculous. Talia might ensure she is well trained, he thought suddenly. While that may cause problems in the future for him, he doubted it would be something he couldn’t handle. She could be trained alongside Damian who had just started his training. With a plan in mind he returned to the base, he would need to talk with his daughter.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie wakes up in the League of assassins base and has a really weird conversation with a really weird man

Marie woke up to a pounding headache. She had been with Félix and had left him to go save Tim from whomever he was talking to. She definitely hadn’t ended up doing that. She had wandered off into the manor upon noticing noticed something weird and she couldn’t remember anything else after that. Which like the rest of her current situation was extremely strange. She had no idea of where she was and her hands seemed to be tied.

She got up and started to look around. It was fairly large, around the size of her room. It wasn’t a lavishly decorated room but it wasn’t bare either. The room was lit by a simple looking chandelier that had actual burning candles. Whoever this was clearly had no idea what electricity was. There weren’t any windows and the walls seemed to be made of stone as if she was underground. It didn’t seem to be anywhere in Gotham. But considering, most Gotham criminals wouldn’t have taken her out of Gotham. That would be a given. In fact she severely doubted they would even have come all the way to Bristol at the same time a gala was being held without the absolute confidence that they could pull it off. It would also make so much more sense to kidnap a child from an empty house. Breaking off that train of thought, she decided to focus on figuring out how to get out of here.

There was still the matter of how she ended up here but that could be worried about once she figured out how to get out of here. She could improvise after that. Afterall staying in the place you’ve been brought to after what is clearly a kidnapping is not exactly the best course of action. And her brother and Félix would definitely be worried once they realized she wasn’t there, so would her mother. Her father, on the other hand would have to put on a show. All he was worried about was their public image. If anyone realised Jack Drake had not been even the least affected by his daughter’s kidnapping it would ruin his image.

She was halfway through her exploration, when the door opened. A person dressed like a ninja entered the room. ”I’m here to take you to the master,” he said. “Would you mind telling me who that would be and where exactly we are?” she tried. She was met with silence. She was led into another room, this one was slightly larger in size and expensively decorated. At the centre of the room a man, with the most unusual hair and clothing she had ever seen, was seated comfortably on an armchair. His hair looked like he spent hours combing it to look like that. This day could not possibly get any weirder at this point.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” the weird guy said, standing up. Well, ninjas weren’t exactly normal but this guy was a whole another level of weird.

“That,” she said,” is the most stereotypical thing you could possibly say.”

Ignoring her he continued on, ”I’m Ra’s al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins and you have been brought here as you are to be the next holder of the Ladybug Miraculous.”

Clearly her thought had been wrong, this day had the full potential to get weirder. “I’m sorry but did you say League of _Assassins_ , as in murderers. Also, what on earth is a ladybug miraculous and why do you think I am its holder?”

“That is among several of the things you shall be taught here, what the miraculous is, how it is your birthright-“

“First of all, I hope you realize you sound like a cult. Secondly, why would you think I am going to stay here and let you train me and create some sort of puppet for you to play with?”

Ignoring her comment about the cult he said,” Why wouldn’t you stay here? You would be trained so that you could wield near infinite power. And as you pointed out earlier, this is the League of Assassins and if you were ever to try and step foot in Gotham again it wouldn’t be particularly hard to kill everyone you hold close to your heart.”

She faltered, he was threatening to kill three of the most important people in her life. However, he also ran a group of assassins that she had never heard of before. And if someone did know about the existence of a whole league of Assassins why were they letting it continue? “And what reason do I have to believe you?”

“Would you rather take the risk of having your brother and mother assassinated, when it could have been prevented simply by listening to my warning?”

‘Mother and brother?’ she thought, ‘not Félix? He supposedly leads an organisation of assassin ninjas, have none of them thought of spies, he seriously thinks Félix is not important to me and he somehow picks up on my relationship with my Father. And if he can do as he claims that’s one less life at risk.’

“This is not a warning, it’s a threat. I’m smart enough to know the difference.”

“Well then, I hope you’re smart enough to recognise that I am completely capable of fulfilling my threat.”

“You lead an organisation called the League of Assassins, which no one in the world is aware of, kidnapped me because you believe I am the holder of a ladybug miraculous, threaten to kill my family if I try to return to Gotham and yet you believe I would want to willingly cooperate with you. Did I miss anything?” she said in an incredulous tone.

“I never said your willing cooperation was required,” turning to the ninja he said, ”Ask my daughter to come see me immediately and that it is urgent.”

Getting over her shock at his first statement, she said, ”You have a daughter? I never thought I could pity someone that much before this, least of all an assassin.”

She was met with a cold silence. Deciding to ignore him too, Marie was left alone to her thoughts on what was going on in Gotham after her kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be part of the prologue along with the next few chapters but I split it up due to its length. Also my spelling is the british spelling most of the time, except when it comes to differences between z and s, 'cause i don't really know which is which either.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Félix after Marie's kidnapping

Félix had been talking to Adrien for a while, when he was approached by an anxious looking Tim. Who was surprisingly alone, he’d expected Mare to be attached to him once she had ‘saved’ him from whomever Tim was having to hold a conversation with. He was glad his mother had made it clear that he was under no obligation to have make nice with all the old harpies present at these events. Until the age of six his only break from them had been his mother, and eventually Adrien. And then he met Marie. She’d been the first one to give him a nickname, having shortened his name to ‘Fé’ and he had in turn started calling her Mare. The first time he met her he thought her cold façade was a cover to please her parents. Eventually he learned it was something her mother had taught her in order to prove her father wrong. Marie, in reality however happened be a ray of sunshine, living in one of the darkest cities in the world.

“Have you seen Mars anywhere?” asked Tim breaking Félix out of his thoughts.

“I thought she was with you, she left around ten minutes saying she was going to “rescue you from the clutches of some old hag.” Didn’t she find you?”

“No, I just excused myself from that conversation because I noticed that Mars wasn’t with you and I couldn’t see her anywhere. Told her that I thought I saw my sister calling me. Do you think we should tell someone or should we search the Manor first?”

“Searching for her in a huge manor on our own even with Adrien’s help would take too much time, not to mention the grounds.”

“Fine. Come help me tell my mother, I’m not even sure on what’s going on.”

Nodding, Félix followed Tim to where Janet Drake was standing in the middle of a ring of socialites. She was laughing loudly but she seemed to be scanning the room worriedly with her eyes. So, she had clearly noticed her daughter’s disappearance.

When she noticed Tim and Felix approaching her, she left her conversation and joined the boys. ”Where’s Marie?” she hissed.

“She’s not in the Gala, we haven’t checked the rest of the manor or the grounds but she told Félix she was going to find me over ten minutes ago and he hasn’t seen her since and she never came to me.”

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Janet Drake told Tim to tell his father, while he might not care it would be frowned upon if when one half of the reason the Gala was thrown vanished and no search was conducted and the Gala just continued on. Tim then ran off to tell Jack Drake. Turning to Félix she said, ”Would you like to come with me while I ask the staff to search the manor and grounds or would you like to go back to your parents?”

“I shall come with you. The police may need to be called if we’re not able to find her. Maybe, I could do that if they don’t find her soon.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you Félix.”

She proceeded to then talk to the staff and ask them to tell her as soon as there was any news. This was the most frazzled anyone had ever seen Janet Drake and Félix couldn’t care less. He was certain he was just as frazzled. His best friend was missing and they had no clue what had happened to her.

The news had obviously spread throughout the Gala, people seemed to be leaving. Someone mentioned something about Tim screaming, that was an interesting piece of information to process later. Though Félix already had pretty good idea of what Tim might’ve screamed. The rest of the Agreste Family had headed over to where Félix was waiting with Janet. Just as they reached, one of the staff had come up to Janet and told her that Marie couldn’t be found anywhere. Félix then stood up, “I shall stick to my original plan of calling the police Mrs.Drake. But I think someone has to tell Tim what just happened, he has a right to that knowledge.”

“Of course. The telephone’s right outside this room when you exit from the door on right.”

Félix rushed from the room following her instructions. His mind was running ridiculously fast, trying to process everything that had just happened. His best friend was missing. She was probably kidnapped. She could be dead. No, that was not possible. Mare was strong, she had to be safe. He had no idea on what he would do if she wasn’t. God, he couldn’t imagine how Tim must be feeling right now.

Running completely on autopilot he finished calling the police and rushed back to let the others know. The room was practically empty. The only people left were the Drakes and his family. Jack Drake was obviously annoyed, Félix was suddenly tempted to punch the man, his daughter could be dead and he was _annoyed_ because the Gala had to end early. Tim looked like he’d been crying, his eyes were red rimmed and he looked miserable. Félix wouldn’t be shocked if he looked equally bad. Janet was frozen, probably because she couldn’t think of what to do find Marie. Adrien looked worried but lost. Gabriel was talking to Adrien and explaining what had happened. Émilie was talking to Janet, unresponsive as she remained, trying to reassure her with what sounded like false promises to everyone in the room. It had been over an hour since Marie disappeared and there was no call for a ransom or anything that suggested whoever had taken her wanted a ransom, no note no nothing. It was like she had been taken by a shadow

Every head in the room turned to look at Félix when he entered. “The police said they will arrive soon. Someone ought to be waiting at the gates for them.”

Janet suddenly stood up and smoothed the invisible wrinkles on her clothes and declared, ”I’ll go, I can show them around. Gabriel, Émilie, if you wouldn’t mind staying back for a while, your company would be much appreciated. I imagine the police would like to talk to Félix. So, if you would rather head back to your hotel with the boys, it would be perfectly understandable.”

“It’s fine,” Félix spoke up, “I’ll talk to them now, the sooner they can find her and bring her back the better. But mère and Adrien can return to the hotel if they want. I’ll come back with père.”

Jack Drake opened his mouth as if to say something, but was silenced by a glare from his son.

“That seems to be a logical plan. Adrien and I will head back to the hotel now and you can return to the hotel with your father. I hope they find her soon. Do let us know if they find something important,” said Émilie. Waving goodbye she then led Adrien out of the room.

“Now that that’s settled. Timothy. Félix. Would you like to accompany me to the gates while Jack and Gabriel wait here?” Janet asked.

Tim just silently stood up and went to his mother’s side. Félix glanced at his father, who nodded in approval, and then said, ”I shall join you.”

Leaving the two men behind Félix and Tim followed Janet to the entrance of the Manor to wait for the arrival of the police.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do intend on writing the same situation from Tim's point of view. That will however end up being longer as it will cover a lot of things that occur after this chapter's end.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed somethings in the 1st chapter with Ra's' threat as it left more loopholes than i meant to leave.

Tim and Marie had gotten ready for their Birthday Gala and were sitting in Marie’s room while their Nanny was running around them to make sure they were perfect before their mother came to check on them. They were talking about random topics to keep their mind off their last Birthday Gala. That Gala hadn’t ended well and Tim knew Marie was worried about that. Tim also knew that how much ever Marie acted like it didn’t affect her, she was hurt by that. Tim wasn’t really sure on how it had changed his opinion of his father, they were three when it had happened and their parents’ constant absence hadn’t allowed him to have an opinion on them. Until then it was simple, he loved them and they loved him too. He had never thought the same didn’t apply to Marie. And then everything had changed, he firmly believed Marie was in no way less capable of heading a company than their father. In Tim’s honest opinion she was definitely more capable than their Father. She had taken up her role of a replica of their mother quite well. A feat Tim found massively impressive. Now, Tim’s feelings towards his father were complicated. He couldn’t bring himself to hate the man, though he wished he could. He felt guilty for both wanting to hate him, after all what sort of son would he be if he hated his own father, and not being able to hate him, though he knew Mars didn’t blame him in the slightest about that but he strongly disagreed with Father’s opinion of Mars’ worth.

Tim knew Father had tried to listen to their mother, probably ~~definitely~~ after a few more arguments. He had taken both Tim and Marie out to places he was sure they would like when he returned to Gotham occasionally. Marie had been slowly chipping away at their Father’s belief that she couldn’t take care of Drake Industries. _Very, very slowly_. In his mind Tim was still the heir to Drake Industries. That didn’t help Marie’s opinion of him and knowing that he hadn’t changed his opinion on her didn’t help either.

There was also the tiny matter of neither of them being interested in being the CEO of Drake industries even though they both were perfectly capable. Janet had continued to teach them stating that if they were to establish their own companies, they would need to know this. Neither of them mentioned the possibility of not starting their own company. It was simply easier not to. They were still nine they had ages before they had to worry about that.

They had been talking about Tim’s new camera that had been his birthday gift from mother, when mother came to check on them. She was wearing a blue dress that brought out the colour of her eyes and a pearl set. “you look beautiful Mom,” Marie said. “Thank you, and the two of you look wonderful too,” she replied. They were dressed in the same colours, Tim in a grey suit and pale blue tie and Marie was wearing a silvery grey dress with the same pale blue embroidery. Tim often wondered if the other boys his age liked wearing stuffy suits. He didn’t exactly talk to other boys his age, Félix and Adrien didn’t really count. He was close to convinced that Félix wore suits everyday, but then again he was just one person, and Félix wasn’t someone he’d describe as normal.

“Marie, the Agrestes are here, Félix is waiting for you in the living room. They’ve brought gifts for the two of you. “

Mars had gotten up and was halfway out the door by the time their mom had finished talking, Tim was sure she’d have run if her hair might not have been destroyed. One of the staff had spent nearly an hour on it. A very painful hour as Mars had emphasised. Turning to his mother, he said, ”Félix got her a gift and his mother figured out what I’d like from what Mars tells Félix.” Laughing, she said, “While I’m sure that’s exactly what happened, no one has voiced that fact. Go join your sister, she’ll start to wonder why you haven’t joined her yet. I’ll be there soon.”

He smiled at his mother and ran out of the room. When he reached the living room, Mars was talking excitedly to Félix with Adrien standing next to them looking bored. His sister turned to him, smiling, “You finally came, I was starting to think you managed to get lost. What took you so long?”

“You do realise it’s barely been five minutes.”

“Seemed like a pretty long time. Did something happen?” she asked her smile fading.

“Nothing happened. Just talking to mom about untold truths.”

“That’s not mysterious at all,” she said as their mother walked in.

“Open your gifts, I think you’ll like them,” Adrien said slightly louder than necessary.

There was one large box for Tim and a smaller one for Marie. Opening his box carefully he found different camera lenses and a UV filter. He already had a normal lens and a zoom lens with his camera but there was a wide angle lens and a long telephoto lens, that was going to be awesome to try out. He turned to look at Mars, she was going through what looked like sketchbooks with shock apparent on her face. His expression was probably an exact copy of hers. Adrien, who was standing next to him, said, “Félix got Père to write the ideas behind a couple of his older designs, and other tips for designing and explaining most of what she would need to know.”

“That explains her shock.”

“And what would explain yours?” Félix asked joining them.

“I wasn’t expecting it.”

“That sounds more like a question than an answer. Anyways I hope you find it useful, Vincent said it would be when he stopped talking about spaghetti.”

Mars had gotten over her shock and was thanking M.Agreste. ”I’m glad you like it but you should be thanking Félix, it was his idea not mine.” Turning to Félix she hugged him and said, ”Thank you Fé, I love it.”

“The guests will arrive soon. Marie, Timothy, put your gifts in your rooms and then come to the ballroom. Gabriel, Émilie, if you’ll follow me.”

Their mother walked out of the room with the Agrestes following her. Mars was putting the sketchbooks and notes back in the box, he hadn’t taken anything out of his box so he just had to close the box and put it in his room.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just skip the Gala and look through all these designs and notes,” she said suddenly when they were walking up to their rooms.

“You’ll have all the time in the world later, Mars. There is no escape from socialites.”

“You and I both know you want to leave the Gala and try out the new lenses. Also, “no escape,” slightly dramatic, don’t you think?”

“I thought it was perfectly appropriate. We’re going to have to talk to so many people.”

“The Gala is being held for _our birthday_ , the talking part should have been obvious.”

“It being obvious doesn’t make it enjoyable.”

“And I never said it was. Besides Mom thinks socialising is a required skill.”

“I’ve never seen Félix dealing with old ladies pinching his cheeks.”

“ _His_ mother doesn’t want to leave him to the wolves on his own yet. The two of us have been learning to handle it since the age of three.”

“We’re going to have to join the others before they start wondering if we got distracted with our gifts, don’t we?”

“Definitely. Let’s go before someone comes to check on us. Leave your gift in my room, you can take it later. We can go over everything after the Gala. Do you think they would know if we ran there?”

“And your hair?”

She groaned, “I hate this. We’ll just have to walk fast.”

Laughing he followed her down the stairs. The Ballroom was filled with people. Tim suddenly wondered what it would be like to have parties instead of Galas for birthdays, with friends in a living room instead of socialites in a ballroom. There would definitely be less talking to adults about boring topics.

They were approached by several people wishing them a happy birthday. Tim doubted that any of their wishes were genuine. They were all here to maintain appearances and nothing else. He had no idea why his mother thought this was a good way to celebrate their birthday.

Accepting his fate, he put a smile on his face and joined the crowd of people, he saw Marie doing the same next to him. They spent at least an hour talking to everyone and thanking them for insincere wishes. Towards the end of the hour they were joined by their mother, who had definitely finished talking to everyone at least once. ”Félix and Adrien are sitting at their table, go join them for a while. Take a break before you have to talk to the guests again.”

“Thanks!” Marie said as she held Tim’s hand and dragged him in the direction their mother had pointed.” Shooting his mom a smile he followed Marie, who was predictably five steps ahead of him. They found Félix and Adrien exactly where their mother told them they would be. Their parents were talking to one of the members of the board of directors of DI. Unsurprisingly, Félix looked bored while Adrien chattered on excitedly. Catching sight of Marie heading towards them, he smiled at her and stood up, ”I thought you’d be done talking to the guests by now.”

“More people want to talk to us since it’s our birthday. A sentiment which is not shared.”

“So, this is your break from the socialites, then?”

“Technically, yes.”

“A much needed one,” added Tim.

“Hey Adrien, what were you talking about?” Marie asked.

“Fencing. Mère just enrolled me for classes.”

“Cool. You’re enjoying it?”

“It’s awesome, did you know-“

Tim zoned out at that point, electing to stare at the guests instead. People watching was fun. Mars had a flair for it, she tended to pick up on the occasional thing he missed and vice versa. Félix seemed to be listening to Marie and Adrien’s conversation while acting like he didn’t care. Tim knew the animation in his sister’s voice would vanish if anyone approached them and so did Félix, who always looked a little shocked to see her go from Mars to Marie Drake. Though, admittedly while Tim had found it disconcerting in the beginning, he had grown used to it now. He knew he did the same thing, there was a line drawn between Tim and Timothy Drake too.

Adrien had stopped chattering he noticed suddenly, turning to look at Adrien he saw that he was staring at Marie talking to the man who had been talking to the Agrestes earlier. Tim then remembered that Adrien had never seen her switch from the smiling laughing person he knew to the ‘heir to Drake Industries’. Mentally apologising to Adrien, seeing two people turn into socially acceptable versions of themselves for the first time would be shocking, Tim got up and joined his sister. Adrien was starting to look more alarmed by the second. Subtly nudging Marie, he tilted his head towards Adrien. Catching on immediately she glanced his way to realise he would inevitably say something if this wasn’t cleared up immediately. Turning to him, she said, ”I think mother is calling us , we should probably go,” turning to the man, “sorry, it was lovely to talk to you, but we really must see what our mother wants.” Turning around the two of them headed in the direction they last saw their mother, passing Félix on the way she said,” could you please explain to Adrien? I’ll be back in 15 minutes or so and talk to him myself.” At Félix’s nod, relief seeped into her posture, “Thank you.”

“Well, you handled that fast.”

“Sometimes I forget Adrien wasn’t there the first time we met. Félix already knew this. I now have to go back and explain public personas to someone whose mother shields him from everything.”

“It can’t be that bad”

She scoffed, ”feel free to join me.”

“I’ll pass.”

“I know. Let’s go find mom for the sake of appearances.”

“I hate appearances.”

“Join the club.”

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. Marie suddenly turned to him with a sour expression on her face, angrily muttering, “what are the odds?” Focusing his gaze on where she had been looking, he was overcome with the urge to join her angry muttering because of course the _one_ time they seek out their mother, she’s standing along with their father.

“I can go ahead and ask her to come, if you want.”

“No. It’s fine. We just need to be there for a few minutes anyways.”

They headed towards their parents who were talking to a crowd of people. This was going to be incredibly annoying. However, their mother noticed them before they reached her and excused herself and headed towards them. Tim had never felt so grateful ever before in his life. “Is everything fine, I wasn’t expecting you two to leave the Agrestes any time soon. “

“You’d think people would be more happy to see the people for whom this whole Gala is being held rather than wondering why we weren’t there earlier or later.”

Their mother raised her eyebrow in questioning.

“To answer your first question, Adrien saw the two of us talking to Mr. Smith and nearly freaked out, so Mars said that you were calling us and asked Félix to talk to Adrien and said that she’d be back to talk to him herself. But since appearances must be maintained and Marie said you were calling us we came to find you. As for Mars’ response, the first thing Félix said to us was asking why we hadn’t shown up earlier.”

“So, I can assume the two of you are heading back to the Agrestes now.”

“I am. Tim doesn’t want to join me in trying to explain things to Adrien, so he will join me in about fifteen minutes by which time I should be done talking to Adrien. I’ll see you soon. If you need me, I’ll be with Fé or Tim.”

Marie then walked away towards the Agrestes, while Tim waved to his mother and walked away to talk to one of the harpy like women. He soon came face to face with Mrs. Jackson. She was one of those old women who was willing to talk forever without requiring the other person’s attention. Wonderful, he thought, I’ll have to wait until Marie finishes talking to Adrien and sees me for her to rescue me. He started ignoring her incessant gossiping after the first few minutes. It took him nearly thirty minutes to realise, Marie hadn’t come yet. Even if she hadn’t noticed immediately after she finished talking to Adrien, she had been sure that wouldn’t take her more than 15 minutes. Which would give her another fifteen to have found him. Glancing at Mrs. Jackson who didn’t seem to notice Tim hadn’t been listening to her, he tried to look around. If he tilted his head slightly he should be able to see Félix and Adrien, but Marie wasn’t with them. He couldn’t see her anywhere else in the ballroom either. Growing anxious he told Mrs. Jackson his sister was calling him and rushed towards Félix before she could reply.

“Have you seen Mars anywhere?” Tim asked the second he reached the Félix.

“I thought she was with you, she left around ten minutes saying she was going to “rescue you from the clutches of some old hag.” Didn’t she find you?”

He was starting to get more worried. He was already mentally running through different scenarios, each worse than the last. Telling himself that imagining things like that wouldn’t help find her, he needed to remain level-headed. “No, I just excused myself from that conversation because I noticed that Mars wasn’t with you and I couldn’t see her anywhere. Told her that I thought I saw my sister calling me. Do you think we should tell someone or should we search the Manor first?”

“Searching for her in a huge manor on our own even with Adrien’s help would take too much time, not to mention the grounds.”

Félix was right. He hoped he was wrong and nothing had happened and Marie had gone back to her room to go through the designs. Highly unlikely as that was. They’d have to tell mother immediately. She would be worried, she was bound to notice her daughter’s disappearance. “Fine. Come help me tell my mother, I’m not even sure on what’s going on.”

Félix nodded and the two of them went to find his mother. She was talking to a lot of people and was laughing very loudly. But Tim could see her scanning the room. His mother had noticed Mars’ disappearance. She excused herself as soon as she caught sight of the two boys and walked towards them. ”Where’s Marie?”

“She’s not in the Gala, we haven’t checked the rest of the manor or the grounds but she told Félix she was going to find me over ten minutes ago and he hasn’t seen her since and she never came to me.” He saw the exact moment she registered his words. To someone who knew her the worry was obvious, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath figuring out what to do next. Turning to him she said, “Go to your Father, tell him what happened. We have to search for Marie and the Gala has to end _now_.”

Tim ran off to find his Father. He had been talking to potential business partners, the last time Tim had seen him. Luckily, he still was. As soon as he reached his Father, he whispered, “Marie is missing, we need to end the Gala and look for her.” Tim doubted his father even heard him he just waved a dismissive hand and said, “This is really important, we can worry about her later.”

This was a horrible time to be dealing with his father and his lack of care for Mars. She was _missing_ and he says “we can worry about her later. Looking around he saw that Félix was still with mom. Félix leaving her side before finding out if Marie was at home was extremely unlikely. But Tim doubted she had just vanished to another room in the manor. That wasn’t like her at all. She wasn’t at home and he didn’t know where she was and what had happened and now he had to deal with his father.

“I’m sure she’s not anywhere in the Manor,” he insisted, “just come.”

“She probably just wandered off, there are more important things to worry about right now.”

Tim ~~might have~~ lost his temper at that point, while he wasn’t screaming he was still loud, “Marie is missing, Get your head out of the clouds, she wouldn’t have wandered off. Something you would know, if you knew the first thing about her as a person. She could be dead and you think the most important thing right now are potential business partners.”

The room was quietening. People were leaving. His mother looked oddly proud. All Tim felt was emptiness. She could be dead he kept repeating in his head. It wasn’t impossible, they lived in Gotham after all but accepting it as a possibility was a completely different thing. He had no idea what he would do if she was dead. It shouldn’t even be something he should be considering. She had to be alive. He realised there were tears rolling down his cheeks. Wiping the tears off his face, he headed towards his mother. The Agrestes were there but Félix wasn’t, and his mother just looked more worried, she was frozen. Marie is not here he realised. That was the only possible explanation his brain provided. It was times like this he hated his brain. Not that there were many times like this.

When he reached his mother, she said exactly what he was dreading she would say, “She’s not anywhere in the Manor. The staff said they double checked. Félix left to go call the police.”

He just nodded and dropped onto one of the chairs. He knew he looked miserable just staring at the floor but that was by far the last thought on his mind right now. His father had joined them at some point but everyone was ignoring him anyways. After what felt like an eternity of waiting Félix returned, “The police said they will arrive soon. Someone ought to be waiting at the gates for them.”

His mother suddenly stood up and said, ”I’ll go, I can show them around. Gabriel, Émilie, if you wouldn’t mind staying back for a while, your company would be much appreciated. I imagine the police would like to talk to Félix. So, if you would rather head back to your hotel with the boys, it would be perfectly understandable.”

“It’s fine,” Félix spoke up, “I’ll talk to them now, the sooner they can find her and bring her back the better. But Mère and Adrien can return to the hotel if they want. I’ll come back with Père.”

Tim who was no longer glaring at the floor noticed that his father was about to something and turned his glare onto him instead.

“That seems to be a logical plan. Adrien and I will head back to the hotel now and you can return to the hotel with your father. I hope they find her soon. Do let us know if they find something important,” said Mme. Agreste. Waving goodbye she and Adrien left.

“Now that that’s settled. Timothy. Félix. Would you like to accompany me to the gates while Jack and Gabriel wait here?”

Tim wanted to know what was going on, so he wordlessly joined his mother. Félix had also decided to join them in their wait for the police. Tim didn’t really pay much attention to the police once they came. He and Félix answered their questions and then they were left alone after that. The next few hours passed in a haze, There wasn’t anything that the police said that he hadn’t already figured out. They checked the manor and grounds again and didn’t find her. Which in all honesty was unsurprising, which they would have known if they hadn’t brushed away what he said as hysteria. They left soon after that, followed by Félix and his father.

Tim was told to go to bed. So he did. He just didn’t sleep, he lay awake trying to figure out how to get Mars back.

If she was taken for a ransom, they would have contacted them by now. He had no idea why anyone would take her for any other reason. He wasn’t even able to think of other reasons. He also didn’t think the GCPD would be able to find her soon. They’d need to be less corrupt for that. Marie basically vanished, even though it wasn’t too long ago. Batman and Robin would probably be able to find her. All he had to do now, was to find a way to contact them.

He wouldn’t even have to figure out their patrol routes, he just needed to be able to talk to them and then he’d be able to ask them for their help in finding Mars. And he could take his new camera to practice and to help him figure out where to find them. He’d have to sneak out, his parents weren’t supposed to leave until the next week, and given the circumstances his mother may stay back longer. He’d have to sneak out if he wanted to find Robin. That’s when he remembered he’d left the camera lenses in Mars’ room, he really didn’t want to go there right now. He could probably go tomorrow, that shouldn’t be too hard. Deciding to iron out the details of his plan tomorrow when everyone would be too busy to worry about him, he closes his eyes and drifts off.

The next day goes by just as Tim thought it would, his Father continues his work while his mother alternates between trying to work and hounding the police for details. Tim honestly did not want details unless and until they found Marie, he had a horrible feeling about the whole kidnapping, it didn’t make sense in the least. Deciding to focus on his feelings later, he gets the long telephoto lens from Mars’ room, ignoring everything else in her room like there is nothing there but empty air. He plans out how to sneak out and get to the city and researches the places Batman and Robin are seen often. He thinks he should feel guilty about lying to his parents but right now he had to find Marie, and he couldn’t do that himself.

Shocking no one, sneaking out of the Manor is easy. Getting into Gotham city is even easier. He takes his bike till the nearest bus stop, and takes the next bus into the city. He’s dressed in a hoodie and jeans so he doesn’t stand out too much. His camera has been placed in the camera bag and kept in the cheapest looking bag he could find in the manor, which given it’s a manor probably looks expensive anyways, but it’s not like he intends to make this a daily practice.

Heading to the first place on his list of frequent (and by frequent he made sure to check it was nearly daily) Batman sightings, he waits with his camera, taking pictures of the city surrounding him. Gotham was beautiful in the night, in its own strange way. He wasn’t waiting for very long. In a stroke of luck, he caught sight of a bright flash of colour in the edge of one of his pictures. Robin was clearly heading his way.

Once Robin was near enough, Tim called out to him. Robin, who was on the next rooftop, turned to him in confusion and then jumped onto the rooftop he was on. Before Robin could say anything, Tim had started rambling, ”You probably already know this but my sister was kidnapped, Marie Drake. The GCPD haven’t given any updates and it’s been over 24 hours and I have a really bad feeling and I thought you and Batman would definitely be able to find her-“

“Woah, calm down. Repeat that slowly,” said Robin, breaking his breathless tirade.

“My sister was kidnapped, Marie Drake. The GCPD haven’t given any updates and it’s been over 24 hours and I have a really bad feeling and I thought you and Batman would definitely be able to find her.”

“She was kidnapped yesterday, wasn’t she?”

At Tim’s nod he continued, “Batman and I are working on it, I promise. Tim, right?”

Another nod.

“If you want, I’ll let you know myself the second we find something.”

Nodding fervently, he said, “Yes, please.”

“Now, how on earth did you get here and do your parents know you’re out here?”

Smiling at Robin, Tim ran away calling out a thank you leaving behind a spluttering Robin. Before Robin could come after him he ducked into one of the alleyways and stayed there until he was sure Robin had left and there was no sign of Batman being nearby. Sneaking back in was as easy as sneaking out. Putting away his things he climbed into bed confident that Batman and Robin would find Mars.

He woke up late the next day. Midnight adventures would do that to you. He walked into the main living room to find police officers talking to his father and mother. His mother who shockingly looked teary eyed. He froze. His mother never cried. He was definitely dreading finding out what had made her cry. He was also fairly certain he knew what had made her cry. Mars is dead. He was probably crying too. His mother turned around just as his tears began to fall, clearly realising he had put it together. Before she could say anything he fled, sobbing, from the room. Running away from hearing the truth, he had gone where he always did when he needed comfort: Marie’s room. Realising where he was, Tim just sobbed harder. He sat on the chaise the two of them had been sitting on a mere two days ago. It looked the same as it ever had, the only thing missing was the person this room had belonged to.

Approximately 3500 miles from Gotham, in Paris on a fairly warm and sunny evening, a boy who had just returned from Gotham was met with the news that his best friend was dead.

And another 4500 miles from Paris, in a league base, a girl who had just been told of what her friends and family were told about her kidnapping, held back tears, took control of her rage and channelled it into the training she had been pushed into days before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tim's just had his birthday ruined for him. He also totally thinks at this point that him taking pictures of the bats is a one time thing. And the Robin in this chapter is Dick.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talia learns about Marie.

Talia was going over the plan made for Damian’s training and his tutors so that she could make some final changes, Father had insisted upon starting Damian’s training as soon as possible. She herself wasn’t so sure whether he was prepared, he had so far been mostly isolated from most of the League. There were the maids who helped raise and take care of him and Talia was with him whenever she was not on a mission, which was admittedly not very often. Father occasionally checked on him but other than that Damian did not have much exposure to the League. He knew of his bloodline and importance within the league but he had no information about his own Father. _Her_ father thought it was information that could be given later and had forbidden talk about her beloved around her son. While she was aware that this was another one of her father’s twisted games, she did not appreciate being kept out of the loop when it came to his plans. She understood the necessity but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Damian was to start training in a few days and while it would have been preferable to ease him into it, Ra’s had thought it would be better to start with a rigorous training from the beginning. She knew when arguing with her father would get her nowhere and had gone along with his plan.

Her planning was interrupted by a ninja who had come to inform her that the Demon’s head had summoned her to discuss an urgent matter and that he was waiting for her. Frowning, Talia asked him to lead her to her father. She had absolutely no idea on why her father would have called her. She was led to one of the lesser used rooms near the centre of the base. She entered the room only to be met with a stifling silence. Her father was seated and was ignoring a young girl. He looked extremely annoyed and Talia could not help but wonder why. The girl was dressed in expensive looking clothes and had exquisitely done hair, that was half destroyed, and looked completely out of place in the room. She looked to be about nine or ten. She had pale skin, black hair and blue eyes. She was sitting and staring at the walls with a forlorn expression. Her appearance piqued Talia’s curiosity, the girl looked like she belonged in the spotlight not in an underground League of Assassins base.

Her Father had noticed her arrival and so had the girl. Standing up he said, “Meet the true holder of the Ladybug miraculous.”

‘True Holder of the Ladybug Miraculous’ she thought incredulously. While her knowledge on the miraculous was not as extensive as could be, she was certain being a true holder was extremely rare. She was also aware of her father’s nearly lifelong quest to capture the miraculous. He must have brought her here in his desperation to find the miraculous. She knew the miraculous brought the wearer a large amount of power especially that of the Ladybug and Black Cat, but she had also studied that the miraculous was to be used by heroes, definitely not assassins. Or at least true holders were usually heroes, there had been only one exceptional case where a true holder of the Black Cat miraculous had gone rogue after a catastrophic event, one that had led to the formation of the Lazarus pits. Ra’s knew this. Short of brainwashing the girl, Talia could not think of other ways to take her miraculous. But, he knew more about the miraculous than she did and clearly had thought ahead.

Giving her a moment to gather her thoughts, he continued on, ”I want her to be trained with Damian, information that Damian must not be told of is to be kept from her. You can plan her training. Let the physical course be the same while the theory is based more on miraculous lore than the other necessary subjects. From what I have learned her mother has ensured she’s far ahead than most other children her age in most subjects.”

“Ladybug,” he said, “follow her, she will be in charge of your training and care.”

“My name is Marie Drake and I’d prefer to be addressed as such.”

Suddenly Talia understood the annoyed expression on his face when she had entered. If she had not been a trained assassin she would have probably laughed. This nine year old girl had clearly spent all her time here making similar comments in her attempt to annoy the Demon’s Head.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t go around telling everyone I meet my real name. In the League of Assassins that can be a very dangerous thing to do,” he warned.

He had clearly threatened her with something judging from the way she deflated at his warning. She walked up to Talia and just stood next to her silently.

“You will need to find tutors for miraculous lore and I would need to know her training schedule.”

The dismissal in his tone was obvious. Leading the girl out of the room, she headed in the direction of her and Damian’s rooms. She had said her name was Marie Drake, if she was not wrong the Drakes were one of the members of upper-class Gotham. Her kidnapping would have created a big enough scandal to prompt her beloved into looking into it. Ra’s would know this, he would have a plan, one she had clearly not been informed of. She should probably ask Marie before jumping to conclusions about her parents, but she didn’t look like she would be willing to talk about her parents right now. Talia doubted she would be up to it anytime soon. She took Marie to the room next to Damian’s. It was furnished better than most others, given that it was meant for higher league officials.

“This will be your room for the foreseeable future, I imagine you do not have much in the way of belongings. I will ask someone to get you clothes for normal use and those for training. I will return in a while and introduce you to Damian.”

She just nodded silently and went and sat on the bed. Closing the door behind her, Talia left the room to go check on Damian. He had been in his room, when she checked last. He was still there, he had been reading for one of his lessons when she had left, he had at some point in the half an hour since she had last seen him pushed his books aside and had started drawing on a piece of rough paper.

“Damian,” she called, startling him. She understood why her father thought the training would be necessary, he wasn’t ever aware of his surroundings and didn’t tend to be silent while moving around. While, Talia knew that was a normal trait for normal children, Damian was anything but normal. Grandson to Ra’s al Ghul and son of Batman, and while Damian was only aware of one of these, he was still expected to live up to both, three years old or not.

“Mother, you were gone longer than expected.”

“I had to talk to your grandfather. You are going to be joined in your training by the Ladybug Miraculous holder, she is to be your sister-in-arms,” while Ra’s had never mentioned anything of that sort, Talia thought that it would help Damian settle into his training. “If you wish I can take you to meet her in a while.”

“I would like to meet her, when can we go?”

“I shall go check on her now, if she agrees to meeting you, you can see her now.”

Damian nodded absentmindedly and went back to his drawing. Talia slipped out of the room to go check on Marie. Silently opening the door, she entered the room. Marie had immediately noticed her presence and gotten up from the corner of the bed she had been huddled in. Strange, she thought, most assassins didn’t notice when Talia enters silently. She had clearly been crying. Unsurprising, she had just been kidnapped from what was probably some sort of party. And yet slightly unnerving, she had held her head high around _Ra’s al Ghul_ and had spoken with a surprising clarity and had probably insulted him more than anyone had done in quite a while.

“I never introduced myself, I’m Talia al Ghul daughter of the Demon’s head.”

“I didn’t know assassins did introductions.”

“Normally they don’t”

“Then why the exception?”

“You are to be trained with my son and I will be taking care of your training, you are bound to eventually know that, this is simply speeding things up.”

“This training that I’m constantly told about, what exactly is it?”

“For now, the basics. Damian will be starting his training in a few days along with you. After that it will expand into several necessary skills, weapons training and so on.”

“Why are you telling me so much? All Ra’s gave me was some extremely cryptic information.”

“There’s a lot I’m not telling you,”

“There’s still a lot you _are_ telling me.”

Ignoring her, she sat on one of the chairs in the room, “You said your name was Marie Drake, as in the daughter of the heads to Drake Industries: Jack and Janet Drake?”

“I don’t think Drake is a common last name, and it’s not like it matters anymore. I can’t risk anyone knowing my name, Ra’s is ready to kill my brother and mother at the first instance, I’m not adding more people on that list,” she says bitterly.

She clearly did not want to continue talking about her family and Ra’s’ threat, changing the subject, Talia said, “would you like to meet Damian now?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course.”

She looked shocked, though she masked her expression almost immediately. The more time she spent with Marie the more curious Talia thought she was. She would have to look into the Drakes, it was surprising that the girl had this much control over her expressions, or at least for a child who was supposed to have led a fairly normal life.

“I’d like to meet him, can we go now?”

Standing up Talia walked out with Marie following her.

“His room is the one next to yours, any lessons that the two of you have in common will probably be taught there.”

Damian was still drawing when the two of them entered the room. Marie paused as soon as she saw Damian, “When you said I was going to be training with your son, I thought you meant he was my age. Why would you think it’s necessary to train a literal toddler?”

Damian scowled, ”I turn three next month.”

“And you’ll be considered a toddler until then.”

“Most other children in the League start training much before.”

“That doesn’t make it ok or normal.”

“Tt.”

Talia decided to interrupt at that point, “Damian, this is Marie, the holder of the Ladybug miraculous-”

“I still don’t know what that is,” she muttered, clearly not meaning for Talia to hear her if her reaction when Talia told her she’ll be taught about it soon was anything to go by. Continuing on she said, “Marie, this is Damian, my son. The two of you will be starting your physical training together tomorrow. You will be having the same teachers for your training for now.”

Damian turned to Marie, “Mother said you are to be my sister-in-arms, so we shall be siblings of a sort.” Remembering what Marie said about Ra’s threatening to kill her brother, Talia was worried that that would be the wrong thing to say. Marie however visibly softened and walked towards him and joined him at the table he was sitting at, “of course, you’re my little brother now.” To say she was shocked would be a massive understatement. However, while she hid her shock, Damian’s was apparent on his face.

Marie, electing to ignore Damian’s shock, said, “I would however appreciate it if you don’t call me by my name or any versions of my name around others in the league. I promise you I have my reasons.”

“Of course.”

Talia left the two to talk. Making the final changes she had been planning on making when she was pulled away by her father, she headed to talk to him. She found him in the same room she left him in. Except, this time he was not alone. He was accompanied by one of the high ranking assassins. “Talia, I need you get the Ladybug a change of clothes, we’ll need her current dress and all those clips in hair. The spies who remained behind in Gotham have said that the detective is on our trail and that cannot be risked.”

Clearly, he had no intention of telling her his newest plan. He would probably tell her whenever Marie was informed, if she was ever informed that is. Handing over the files for the two of their training Talia left the room telling her Father that she will get the clothes and clips from Marie and get her the training gear. She left the room with the intention of finding someone who would be able to find Marie training gear and more casual clothes, she had meant to do that anyways. She found someone who could help her locate the clothes that would need for Marie. While normally she would’ve let someone pick them out and give it to her, she doubted her father wanted news of a Ladybug Miraculous holder being with the League spreading around.

She was worried about whatever her father was planning, if they had to get _Bruce Wayne_ to leave this alone it would take a lot. Solid hard proof that she was dead. That’s exactly what he means to do, she realised. The clothes and clips would only help sell the whole thing. With the League’s resources it wouldn’t be hard to do so.

Dreading the moment when Marie would find out, she headed back to Damian’s room. Marie had decided she was going to help Damian with his drawing and the two of them were drawing silently. Talia wondered what Ra’s would think of their friendship. Interrupting the two, she said, “Marie, if you would come with me. I’ve got you a spare set of clothes. That dress and your hair are probably not comfortable.” Looking joyous at the prospect of changing into something more comfortable, Marie followed Talia into her room. After Marie had changed into the loose garb Talia had acquired for her, Talia removed all the clips and pins from her partially destroyed hairdo. Once, Marie had left to go join Damian again. Talia silently collected Marie’s things and went to give it to Ra’s. All the while hoping his plan was nothing similar to what Talia thought he was planning, unlikely as that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talia's character is not one I really understand. She's a complicated character and I toyed around with what little I do know of her, so she's probably not really "in character" but I thought this would work better with what I had in mind so...
> 
> The league base they're in is the one in Nanda Parbat, which assuming would come under IST or Nepal time, which is ahead of IST by 15 minutes which doesn't really make a difference, but would be 9.5 hours behind Gotham in New Jersey. So given that she was kidnapped in the night in Gotham which would be around early morning in Nanda Parbat, and according to google a commercial flight from New Jersey to Kathmandu is 15 hours, but then I halved it because the League definitely has faster planes. So Ra's' conversation with Marie would be around late afternoon/early evening in Nanda Parbat and super early morning in Gotham. When Tim approaches Robin it's exactly a day after Marie's kidnapping, which again would be early-ish in the morning in Nanda Parbat. Then Ra's sets up his plan for them to think Marie's dead( which I will go into more detail later, rather than the vague idea it is at now) during the night and then the police find what he set up and approach the Drakes in the late morning, technically two days after her kidnapping but more like 36 hours. Paris being 6 hours ahead of New Jersey Félix finds out in the evening and Marie is told at approximately around the time the police find out, so sometime in the late evening. I hope you understood that, even though its technically not necessary to the story, I thought it would help understand the timeline more clearly.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie is told of the happenings in Gotham

Marie was with Damian; they were given a break in their training and had returned to their rooms. She had been brought to the League Base yesterday but she had no idea how long it had been since she was taken from Gotham. Someone ought to be searching for her. She was not stupid; the news was probably running the story like it was the only thing there was to talk about. Batman and Robin would be working on it. She couldn’t lose hope. She, however, had no idea about what to do with Damian when she was taken back. She had not been lying yesterday when she said that he would be her little brother, she genuinely wanted to be a big sister to him. He was a sweet kid with the weirdest of quirks, probably due to his assassin upbringing. His only fault was that he had been brought up in the mindset that stabbing and killing would solve problems. She had spent slightly more than a day with him and she was already attached to him. But could anyone truly blame her for wanting to go home to her brother and mother, for wanting to joke with Tim tam and make up ridiculous games and mess around with their nannies when mom wasn’t home, wanting to see Fé again with his stupid penchant for sarcasm. She then remembered the notes, Gabriel Agreste’s notes on designing, she had completely forgotten about those with everything that had happened. She had been so excited to read those notes, right now the only thing that could possibly excite her would be leaving the League with the threat of Ra’s al Ghul non-existent, preferably with Damian and Talia. Demon’s head’s daughter or not she didn’t seem half bad, plus she was Damian’s mother. Marie had only three people who truly meant something to her, well four now, and her mother was one of them. It would be cruel to separate the two of them. Even if father refuses to help, Bruce Wayne could, he had so many charities and such.

The two of them were drawing, Talia had found out about her interest in design and had given her a sketchbook and pencils. Marie had no idea how she managed to find those in an Assassin stronghold. Talia was being extremely nice to her, almost as if she pitied her. After all Talia didn’t come across as the type to find a sketchbook and pencils for a random child she had just met. Marie was ignoring it though; she didn’t want to analyse what it meant. Didn’t want to let go of that one string of hope she was holding on to that she could go back home. Ra’s had made it clear her family would be killed if she tried to escape, but would he do the same if someone tried to rescue her? There were more hypothetical situations than realistic ones at the moment. She hoped she would be told something soon, but at the same time she was almost afraid to know.

Marie didn’t realise she had stopped drawing and was staring at the wall. Damian, on the other hand, had, “tt, come we must return to training. We have a few more hours to cover today.” And there was that too, Damian had the weirdest speech patterns for a three year old, Marie knew hers hadn’t exactly been what would be considered normal at that age either, but she was sure she hadn’t sounded so strange.

Their training was not half bad, it would probably get harder as time went on, but she’d have to be here for that. Their first day had started off very simply. They had barely learnt much. They had lessons in the morning after breakfast and started their physical training shortly after a very light lunch. They had eventually been sent off for their break and apparently Damian had decided that they must return to their training now.

Marinette, standing up, followed Damian to the room they had been training in. Talia was waiting for them when they returned. Talia immediately had them started with exercises and warm ups that they had been taught today. Five minutes into their practice Ra’s al Ghul swept into the room and demanded Talia and Damian had leave. Talia sent Damian away and then stood her ground. Probably wanted to know whatever Ra’s had come here for. Ignoring it like he had expected it, Ra’s began to talk, “The police have found the body of Marie Drake, the Drakes will probably be informed in the next hour or so. She will officially be declared dead once the DNA test results come back.”

She blanked out, the only thing she could think right now was, “what?”

“Marie Janet Drake will be declared dead soon enough, I thought you would like to know that.”

She had said that out loud then. But Ra’s had said a DNA test while judging from what she had learned about the League so far, they were definitely capable of messing around with that but don’t they have to try and identify the body, her mother and brother would immediately be able to tell that it wasn’t her.

Voicing her thoughts, she said, “And how are you going to ensure that the DNA test comes out positive?”

“That has already been ensured little Ladybug. There was a strand of hair stuck in one of the pins in your hair that my daughter brought to me along with the rest of your things. What do you know about clones, Ladybug?”

Talia looked shocked for a second before she covered it. Not dwelling on it, Marie responded, “They don’t exist, they’re works of science fiction.”

“That’s where, Little Ladybug, you’re wrong. They don’t exist in a stable condition. As in, if I had a person’s DNA I would be able to create a clone, not a living breathing one but it would have the same DNA and would look exactly the same.”

Marie stared at him with a dawning horror. Ra’s just continued on, “However, if checked for a cause of death it would most likely show heart failure, which definitely wouldn’t do in your case. So, the body might have been slightly damaged before being left in Gotham. There won’t even be a doubt that it’s you, your dress was really useful.”

She felt her heart sink. There was no way to return to her family now. No one would be searching if there was proof that she was dead. Tim tam. He was going to be told she was dead, so was Félix and everyone. Don’t cry, she thought, refusing to give Ra’s al Ghul the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She glared at him instead, the way her mother had taught her.

Ra’s however walked out, nodding to Talia on his way out. As soon as he left Talia was by her side awkwardly trying to comfort her, but Marie didn’t need comfort she needed answers. She was a Drake. Legally dead or not didn’t matter.

Turning to Talia, she asked, her voice unwavering, “Did you know?”

“I knew he wanted to get Batman off his tail, knew that he had wanted your belongings for his plan, not what he was planning.”

“But you knew he was planning on telling everyone that I was dead, that was why you were being nice to me with the sketchbook and everything. You don’t really have to continue. I’d rather not sketch at all than use a book given to me out of pity.”

“It was not out of pity that I gave it you. You will be staying here for a reasonably long time; you need to get used to the fact that is your new normal. Would you like to return to your room now?”

No. That was definitely the last thing Marie wanted. To go into a room that had been assigned to her after she had been taken away from home.However, Marie didn’t let any of that show on her face.

She looked at Talia straight in the eye and said, “If I’m going to stay here, I might as well go along with this training. Tell Damian he can join me if he wants to. I’ll continue with what we had started.”

Talia had given her an assessing look and then walked out of the room to bring back Damian and Marie ignored all her emotions except her anger and focused it on her training. Damian joined her silently, a few minutes later. They finished all that they were meant to do for the day before returning to their rooms. Once they had eaten dinner, the two of them parted to go to sleep.

Talia or someone had tried to make her room look more lived in. She had brought by some books and there were a few more sketchbooks and drawing pencils. Ignoring them, Marie went to a cupboard that definitely hadn't been there before. There were clothes in the cupboard. Some looked fancier than the others, she wondered if the League had Galas of a sort too before diminishing that image from her mind. She changed into what seemed like pajamas and curled up in bed.

It was when she finally lied down to rest did her thoughts come back to haunt her. Her Family thought she was dead, The Agrestes probably did too, the whole of Gotham would probably have been told by now. And Marie couldn’t see an alternative, a way to have avoided this whole mess, and it was bothering her more than anything before had. She could no longer spend almost every waking second with Tim, no talking over the phone to Félix every week, no accompanying mom to DI once a month. And all alone in a new room, in the middle of nowhere, with her brother too far away to comfort her, her world came crashing down around her, and Marie cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the whole clone thing real? I dont know, I just felt like killing another innocent little girl would leave gaps which Bruce could totally exploit. Plus, League of Assassins connections or not I doubt they would be able to find another kid who looks similar enough to Marie in time.


End file.
